Victor Drazen
Victor Drazen is a Serbian military leader who carried out several ethnic cleansing campaigns and purges throughout Kosovo under Slobodan Milošević, war crimes that earned him the moniker "The Butcher of Belgrade." He is also the primary villain on the first ever season of the TV show "24". Victor Drazen is portrayed by the late Dennis Hopper. History Victor Drazen was born on February 6, 1947 in Požarevac, Serbia. He graduated from the University of Belgrade with a Master of Science degree in Engineering, and received covert actions and anti-espionage training from the Soviet Union's KGB. In the Serbian Army, he rose to the rank of Commander in the Special Operations division, and also participated in the Serbian National Liberation Front and Kosovo/1389, the nationalist groups that were eventually banned. Drazen also served as Deputy Director of Intelligence in the Yugoslavian Military Command. Drazen married Elena Drazen, and the couple had two sons, Andre (born 10 June 1967) and Alexis (born 24 January 1967), and a daughter, Martina (born 23 April 1974). As the commander of a secret police organization, Black Dogs, under Slobodan Milošević, Drazen led several campaigns of terror and ethnic cleansing against the people of Kosovo, Bosnia, and Macedonia. The Kosovo Verification Mission documented many of Drazen's atrocities, including instances of forced expulsion, looting, mass execution, and rape, generally against ethnic and religious minorities of Yugoslavia. According to GSG-9, Drazen also built a significant criminal enterprise, employing former KGB operatives, bribing FSB and SVR officials, and negotiating deals with terrorist groups around world, including some anti-government militia groups in the United States. His network included the Libyan ambassador to Yugoslavia and suspected terrorist Rene Bonniere. Downfall Two years before the events of Day 1, Drazen was targeted for assassination by the United States government, due to both his humanitarian transgressions and the threat he posed to the fragile peace in Bosnia. The mission, code-named Operation Nightfall, was secretly sanctioned and authorized by Senator David Palmer, and coordinated by a floating NSA operative, Robert Ellis. Jack Bauer, a former Captain in the United States Army Delta Force, was reactivated and assigned to lead a six-man team into Kosovo to eliminate Drazen at his secure compound. Drazen had foreknowledge of the attack after his men discovered the body of Delta operative Dave Evans, who was killed by a landmine upon infiltration. Believing the dead man to be the advance of a NATO strike force, he redoubled his personal security force and ordered his son Andre to find out what he could about the man's identity. Later in the morning, Drazen kept a scheduled conference with the Libyan ambassador, one of his criminal associates, and attempted to negotiate an asylum for President Milošević in the event that the regime was toppled. As his troops repeatedly failed to intercept the Delta unit, Drazen grew ever more paranoid, at one point ordering Lieutenant Crnjanski to execute his superior, Colonel Milankovic, after the leader was defeated in a firefight with the Americans. Bauer and his men tracked someone they believed to be Drazen to a heavily guarded facility, and Jack set off a bomb which destroyed the bunker he was in. Drazen survived the attack, but was kidnapped by a separate mission set up by CIA Deputy Director Tony Webster, and brought to the United States with the world believing he was dead. Drazen's wife and daughter were both killed in the attack. Imprisonment Due to his knowledge of terrorist and criminal operations around the world, Drazen was considered an extremely high-value asset, and was remanded to the Department of Defense's top-secret Mobile Underground Detention and Detainment prison network. For two years, his identity classified, Drazen was transported between facilities on a random schedule. Through means unknown, he made contact with his sons Andre and Alexis, who had uncovered details of Operation Nightfall from a mole inside the U.S. intelligence apparatus, and plotted to take revenge against both Jack Bauer and Senator David Palmer, who originally authorized the mission. The operation was scheduled for the two-year anniversary of Nightfall, also the California Presidential Primary, when both Bauer and Palmer would be in Los Angeles. Day 1 Victor is taken prisoner by the Department of Defense, with his death being hidden from the public. Jack finds out about his survival, and confronts him in an underground holding facility run by Mark DeSalvo, before being captured himself when Victor's son Andre comes to his rescue. The Drazens contact George Mason of CTU telling him that they have Jack hostage. As the Drazens leave the prison facility, Victor prepares to shoot Jack, but he offers Victor an ultimatum. He tells Victor that his other son Alexis is still alive, Victor thought he was dead. They decide to go through with the exchange, Alexis for Jack. Andre brings Jack to an oil rig and handcuffs Jack to a post and tells him he will be released once they get Alexis. Andre gives instructions to Jack to meet with Senator Palmer. They want $200 million of their assets to be freed as they were frozen when Victor was captured. Victor and Andre are now at the Port of Los Angeles with Alexis, soon afterward Alexis dies from his injuries. Since the Drazens have recaptured Kim Bauer earlier, he threatens to kill her to get revenge on Jack, but Andre reminds him they need Jack's daughter alive to make sure Jack meets with Palmer. Jack meets with Palmer and the scrambled phone Andre gave Jack rings, he hands the phone over to Palmer and he answers it. When Palmer picks up, Victor detonates a bomb. Jack hears the ticking and realizes the phone is a bomb and grabs it and throws it out the window. Kim overhears the explosion and believes her father has been killed. Victor and Andre find out from a report on television that Senator Palmer has been killed, they celebrate. Andre decides to kill Kim, but Victor insists they still might need her if Jack wasn't killed. Andre calls Jack and finds out he is still alive. Jack offers himself for the release of his daughter. He agrees and gives Jack their location. Kim is able to escape when she assaults a guard with a pot filled with hot coffee. She runs off. Andre and Victor search for her. As Kim is spotted, she jumps in the water even though her hands are tied together. They are convinced that she'll eventually drown. Andre gets a call from a woman named Yelena, a mole inside CTU. It is revealed that the mole is Nina Myers. She tells Andre that Palmer is actually still alive. Kim eventually gets away safely and contacts CTU. As Nina learns this information, she tells Andre that Kim is safe. Andre and Victor realize Jack won't come if he knows his daughter is safe. Victor tells Nina to call Jack and reveal that his daughter has been killed, he believes that Jack would try and get revenge on them for the death of Kim. As they wait for Jack inside a warehouse at the Port, a van comes crashes through and Jack takes out all the hostiles. Victor and Andre run for the docks as Jack chases them. They engage in a firefight, Jack gets hit, but he still continues firing shots. When in close range, he shoots and kills Andre but Victor is able to get a shot on Jack wounding him. Victor walks up to Jack and is ready to finish him off, but he is out of ammunition. Victor decides to surrender himself. Jack gets up, but doesn't fire at Victor. When Victor starts to put his hands down, Jack then fires at Victor, sending him into the water and killing him. Jack stills unloads on Victor after he is dead. Quotes Background information and notes *In the Indian version of 24, Victor Drazen's counterpart is Ravindran. *Near the end of Day 1, the phone threats and bomb planting by Victor mirrors that of the villain Howard Payne (also portrayed by actor Dennis Hopper) ends up performing in the 1994 action thriller film Speed. Category:TV show characters Category:Deceased characters Category:Characters with military experience Category:Characters played by Dennis Hopper Category:24 characters Category:Characters Category:Male characters Category:Villains Category:Killed by protagonist